The AI Hype Index: DeepSeek mania, Israel’s spying tool, and cheating at chess
MIT Technology Review’s highly subjective take on the latest buzz about AI.
Separating AI reality from hyped-up fiction isn’t always easy. That’s why we’ve created the AI Hype Index—a simple, at-a-glance summary of everything you need to know about the state of the industry.
While AI models are certainly capable of creating interesting and sometimes entertaining material, their output isn’t necessarily useful. Google DeepMind is hoping that its new robotics model could make machines more receptive to verbal commands, paving the way for us to simply speak orders to them aloud. Elsewhere, the Chinese startup Monica has created Manus, which it claims is the very first general AI agent to complete truly useful tasks. And burnt-out coders are allowing AI to take the wheel entirely in a new practice dubbed “vibe coding.”
Deep Dive
Artificial intelligence
Everyone in AI is talking about Manus. We put it to the test.
The new general AI agent from China had some system crashes and server overload—but it’s highly intuitive and shows real promise for the future of AI helpers.
Anthropic can now track the bizarre inner workings of a large language model
What the firm found challenges some basic assumptions about how this technology really works.
China built hundreds of AI data centers to catch the AI boom. Now many stand unused.
The country poured billions into AI infrastructure, but the data center gold rush is unraveling as speculative investments collide with weak demand and DeepSeek shifts AI trends.
AI reasoning models can cheat to win chess games
These newer models appear more likely to indulge in rule-bending behaviors than previous generations—and there’s no way to stop them.
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